Request
Forgive the random nature of my request, just thought it was easier to contact the signatory of the latest published accounts to ask about a donation to Islington.
I was informed a couple of months ago by an Islington borough councillor that NWLA had donated £4.75M to several London councils.
£4.75M windfall for north London councils from publicly owned energy-from-waste facility | NLWA <https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/news/ps475m-windfall-north-london-councils-publicly-owned-energy-waste-facility>
£4.75M windfall for north London councils from publicly owned energy-fro...
Seven London councils, which represent two million residents, are on course to receive budgetary boosts totallin...
On looking at the companies house accounts for the period, which showed a £5k loss.
I couldn't find mention of said donation, and was advised that the updated accounts probably weren't available on those accounts https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/e72LY2xeHLxii5jOvJFKGlqv7O6rlfBILZSNMgi1W5Y/application-pdf?
You have recently released more up to date accounts on this link.
https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-02/02%20Finance%20Update.pdf
Not sure if I am misreading the document, but again I can see no mention of the donation.
Could you please help me to understand how the money was accounted?
Response
Further to our email acknowledging your freedom of information request (reference 2023-209), our response is as follows.
You requested information on the ‘windfall’ from electricity prices and how this was shared with the seven north London boroughs.
As background, North London Waste Authority is a statutory body, responsible for disposing of the waste delivered to it by seven north London boroughs (the boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey and Waltham Forest). The Authority is funded by a levy on the constituent boroughs for household waste. Household waste is waste and recycling collected by boroughs from residential properties and delivered to the Authority, or by the public at Reuse and Recycling Centres. There is a separate charging regime for commercial waste and recycling delivered to the Authority by boroughs.
LondonEnergy Ltd is wholly owned by the Authority and operates the existing energy-from-waste facility at Edmonton which produces electricity from burning the waste. As you mention in your email, the latest set of accounts available on the Companies House website were made up to 31 December 2021, a point in time before electricity prices began to rise rapidly and the Company received additional revenue from the sale of electricity.
In response to your question, at the October 2022 Authority meeting, Authority Members were advised that LondonEnergy would benefit from additional income from higher electricity prices over the winter and that it was likely that they would make an unplanned profit in 2022 as a result. As the sole shareholder of LondonEnergy, the Authority would benefit from this in the 2023/24 financial year.
Members were also advised that without including the additional electricity income in the Authority’s own forecasts, the Authority was in a positive financial position in 2022/23 which meant that it could reduce the 2023/24 levy charged to boroughs. Given the additional electricity income, Members decided to return £4.753m to boroughs, the equivalent to one month of the 2022/23 levy and asked boroughs not to make the payment due for November 2022. This was a rebate to the levy and was not a donation to boroughs. Below is a link to the October Authority report below, which explains this in further detail.
https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-10/01%20Finance%20Update.pdf
At the Authority meeting on 9 February, Authority Members were advised that the increased electricity prices over the winter meant that a further one-off ‘windfall’ was likely and a £10.2m reduction to the 2023/24 levy was approved. This reduces the payments that boroughs make to the Authority each month. Below is a link to the February Authority report. It should be noted that the introduction of the electricity generator levy by the Government and the fact that wholesale electricity prices are now reducing, means that the likelihood of further ‘windfall’ income is reduced.
https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-02/02%20Finance%20Update.pdf
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to raise a further information request. If you would like to complain about our handling of information requests, you can do so by emailing this email address (informationrequests@nlwa.gov.uk) or using the enquiry form on our website.
